How well prepared and trained are Senior Citizen Care Homes in India in handling situations like Missing Residents or Wandering Residents?
India has about 1700 Senior Citizen Care Homes, majority of them are charitable homes.
Though it is not fair to expect them to have international level Care Standards but then, there are certain standards in managing Care Homes which do not require special skills or financial outflow, only proper training and an eye for detail is needed.
Missing Persons Policy in Care Homes / Aged Care Homes / Long Term Care Homes is a well-established protocol internationally, however in India we are yet to have National Guidelines for such an important area.
Imagine if our parents living in a care home leaves the Care Home premises due to Dementia or Delirium and the Care Home has no structured procedures and policies on how to prevent and/or handle such incidents.
Older people with Dementia quietly slipping out of their homes or care homes is not uncommon, but then it is the responsibility of the caregivers to ensure their safety.
The larger point of debate is, are these policies and standard operating procedures really needed and do they actually make sense?
I guess we will never realise the importance of such standards till the time our parents or ourselves in the future do not get lost and probably never to be found, simply because we or them will not have the Mental Capacity to even tell our address.
The attached “Missing Aged Care Resident Procedure” of Government of Western Australia, WA Country Health Service is a short and crisp read which can be read by agencies and operators involved with Senior Citizens Care.
The Australian Government does not endorse or recommends the website Elderly Care India.
The document can be accessed on the website: https://www.wacountry.health.wa.gov.au/